Kenai being a sniffy hound, catching a scent on the air…pic is still 32 wks, though he is now 35 wks.
The title of this post is a little tongue in cheek play on words with the music composition “March of the Valkyries”. In Norse mythology the Valkyries are minor female dieties whose purpose was to decide the victor of battles, choosing the bravest of those who died in battle to join them in the afterlife. I’m being a bit facetious, for I am far from worthy of diefication!
But I have managed to subdue the bullying effects Kenai’s hormone surge somewhat. Kenai’s recent intense behavior is slowly retreating under my determination. I’ve had to summon up an unyielding attitude with him, and maintain it. It’s tiring to convince a hard headed brute that I am head bitch of the pack 24 hours a day. Especially when I’m not feeling good and he knows it.
Still, progress has been made in getting him to mind at home, which is where he’s posed the biggest problems. His sits and downs are solid again and I can use hand signals alone. Stay and wait have improved, as long as he can see at least some part of me, and hand signals for it work once more. Walking on a leash is good again (I don’t use the gentle leader at home), as is his walking with me if I hold his collar.
All of this is dependent of course, on my absolutely insisting he do as he is told. I don’t boss him around, but when I do want him to follow a command, he will do it whether he wants to or not. We are talking standing up tall, chest out, in charge, and no fiddly options besides obedience.
Ahhg, he’s a lot of work right now, but the progress makes it worth the effort. I won’t have a giant bully. Getting him back from it doesn’t mean I bully him, just a no-nonsense attitude is what it takes.
If the two middleweights start shoving and fighting while I make their food, I put the bowls away and sit down. They’ve learned fuss=go hungry. I will wordlessly send him serious vibes if he refuses to sit, until he does. Jumping on me gets met with fierce reactions, so he’s stopped it.
On your bed is a happy command, and breaking the stay is not. He’s pushed me to the point of making the contrast between do it=happy things and don’t do it=not happy things very stark. The phase will go away, but the rules don’t.
The only 2 things that haven’t improved are mouthing/swatting, and that infernally troublesome recall. The mouthing and swatting I have more calmness with because they are a comfort and playing sort of deal. But recall is serious business, and he is as obstinate in ignoring it as a bloody mule.
We have a total of 13 acres, 10 of which are overgrown hardwood forest. Nearby is a national forest park, with bears, mountain lions, and bobcats, all of which could badly injure or even kill him. The predators do wander out of the park, with sightings in our area every year or two.
In addition to the unusual dangers, we have a healthy population of poisonous snakes, groundhogs, ferule cats, an my irresponsible neighbor’s dogs roaming the 3 acres I keep cut and maintained. Besides the fact that we’ve worked on recall every day of his life, his refusal to come when I call him can be life-threatening. I don’t play games with it, but he does, and it aggravates me to no end.
Just Monday night, while I was having a swim in the pool, he wandered over to the fence, where he likes to stand and look about. I couldn’t really see him well, but I didn’t pay any attention—he’d been running and was tired, so I didn’t expect a problem.
When I got out, I called him to go inside, and once again, no puppy appeared. So I ran him out of the shrubbery, and what should he come out with but a half eaten rabbit… butthead started the keep away crap, and I was ready to throttle him. I hate it when he gets squirrelly like that.
I figure he just found the leavings of a cat or hawk, since there wasn’t any rustling in there. I don’t know if he was eating it or not, though and wild rabbits carry all kinds of serious diseases. All I could do is put some Ox-e drops in his food, and watch for vomiting and fever. The drops are an anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-viral product safe for ingesting. Grrr…
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But following the Valkyrie theme, Kenai and I have won a battle–our first access denial has been overturned! The Gateway Cafe we go to a couple times a week had the health department come down on them. The ladies that own it were horrified since we’re long time customers, but they were threatened to be shut down if they let Kenai in.
Appearantly some of their other customers were complaining to the health department. May fleas and ear mites infest their pillows! After saying we couldn’t go in at all, both the health department and a state agency the owners didn’t know changed their tune a little: they said that unless I could provide proof of disability, certification of Kenai as a guide dog for the blind to the cafe owners, then I couldn’t go in. BLATANTLY ILLEGAL!
So I went to see a local disability advocate, who very kindly provided all the information the owners needed to respond to any complaints. They’ve got a copy of a letter written by the Association of State Attourney’s General that both gives the points of the ADA, but also has a question and answer section.
The ladies were really glad to see us when we went back there yesterday! They like Kenai, and have no problem with him being there. They were just scared of the bullies at the health department. The disability advocate once more told the health department that the Americans with Disabilites Act required them to allow any service dog into anyplace the general public is allowed.
As a federal law, the ADA overrides any state or local agency. A business owner does have rights as well under the ADA.
1. They may ask if the person is disabled, though they cannot ask the nature of the disability.
2. They may ask if the service animal is in fact, a service animal providing assistance. They cannot ask what tasks the animal performs.
3. If the service animal is not controlled, such as barking or disturbing other people by its behavior, the business can insist the animal be removed. Service must still be provided to the owner though.
The service animal team has to be treated as any other customer would be, which really, is only how it should be. The disabled cannot be discrimated against. Under the ADA,
1. A service animal must not be denied entry to any place the general public is allowed. That includes restaurants, taxi cabs, hotels, parks, and all public places.
2. They cannot be harrassed, charged fees, or segregated from other other customers, as this is discriminatory.
3. They cannot be asked to show proof of disability, as it is intrusive and a violation of privacy.
4. The animal does not have to be certified, or even vested. As long as the handler as identified the animal as an assistance animal, they are not to be denied access.
The strange thing is, these stipulations are nothing more than any other person is entitled to. An African American cannot be segregated from other people, a healthy person isn’t forced to provide proof that they are healthy. A construction worker isn’t charged a cleaning fee if they come in with muddy boots.
So why would someone who needs a service animal to function more independently be subject to such impositions and rudeness? It doesn’t make sense that we can feel sorry for the poor lady who struggles to walk, but meet her with hostility if he has an animal trained to help her.
Kenai is kept meticulously clean, I expect him to be quiet and unobtrusive, he isn’t allowed to stick his nose on someone’s plate on the way by, and I have taught him not to get in the way. We willingly look for corners and back booths because he’s not going to fit under a table. If a line is long, I have him stand in front of me sideways, so he takes up less room. He’s a Dane, nearly 3 feet long.
I am willing to go to trouble not to cause a problem, though I understand that there are some people who don’t. There are some people taking advantage of the ADA to pass their untrained pets off as service animals. Medicare has a 34% fraud rate, but we haven’t decided to shut it down and give no one coverage.
If someone’s animal is ill-behaved, and they don’t have the sense to remove them without being asked until they are controlled again, then they should be put out of a business. That doesn’t mean, I should be denied access! It’s like saying “That Hispanic caused trouble, so I won’t allow any Latino to come in.” How fast and how loudly would that lawsuit happen?
To be honest, I have no problem changing the law slighty to require the passing of the Good Canine Citizen Test to remove the ‘in training’ patch, though some might argue with my inexperienced opinion. The GCC test simply makes sure that the dog is good natured, controllable, and won’t pose a risk to the public. I haven’t a clue if there is anything similar for other animals used for assistance.
I defer to the more educated and experienced, though. Fill me in if I am wrong?
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